The Ups and Downs of Life in Nampula

Oy! Only 16 minutes of internet left!!!! Here goes:

Things we were told we would have:
-electricity
-very close water source or even running water
-a GREAT fruit and vegetable market
-a wood market
-a short term temp house until our house is finished

Things we actually have:
-None of the above
-May be getting a generator, but they are not very powerful, loud and smelly
-We pay to have water carried from about 1/4 mile away (3 buckets = 1.5 miles round trip)
-no wood market
-BLATANT lack of fruit and veg (market has mango, onion, garlic, a few puny tomatoes, and.....dried fish. Throw in bread rice and beans, and imagine this as the extent of your cooking resources. Oy.
-Temp house for at least 6 months because our house is nowhere near done

Other things we have:
-large cockroaches
-dead rat (my bedroom)
-live rat (kitchen)
-scorpions (small and not too dangerous, so don't worry too much)

Nice things:
-beautiful, glorious mCell tower in the middle of my town, so i have CELL PHONE service. This is the only thing keeping me sane, so keep the texts and calls coming.
-our temp house has a TILE roof from the Portuguese era so it is MUCH cooler than a tin roof.
-Nice verandah
-Very proactive school director who considers our happiness and safety his number 1 priority
-Very cool NGO neighbors "medicus mundi" with doctors from Italy, Spain and Russia
-Our temp and permanent houses are in the safest part of town
-We will probably be able to go to Pemba and Nampula regularly to buy fruits and veg.

You know your life has changed when:
-You get up between 4 and 5 every day because you can't imagine sleeping later than that, plus it's the nicest part of the day
-You start sweating at 6:30
-You and your roommate are SHOCKED by how LATE you are up at 8:45
-You habitually go to bed at 8pm
-You go to a supermarket in city for the first time in four months and feel dizzy and overwhelmed

Things that i am called in my town:
Laura (pronounced LOW-RAH)
Laurinha (little Laura)
Menina (girl)
A Senorha Professora (the lady professor)
Doctora (title for someone who has finished univerisity)
Mama
Mana (big sister)
Tia (aunt)
Colega (colleague)
Lots of names for one person!!

Did manage to get to Pemba the other day. Very pretty. Has FRUIT AND VEGETABLES AND FRESH FISH. Very exciting. Sadly there is only one bus a day, which doesn't come back until the next day, so this may be problematic. We shall see.

Am in Nampula with a pack of Volunteers today. We're heading off to spend Christmas and New Years together on the coast with even more volunteers. Should be lots of fun. At the crazy supermarket today I splurged and bought: peanut butter, nutella, apricot jam and olive oil. Oh the happiness.

Ok, that's about it for now.

Love to all, and best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

p.s. still haven't figured out the best place for a P.O. Box up north, but for now you can still send stuff to the Maputo box, and Peace Corps will get them to me eventually.... : )